Best ePub reading app for layout? - Page 2

seanos · 07-15-2013, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Maybe I'm not following what you mean by "static page indicator," but I've always had the ability to continually display the page indicator at the bottom of the page in the premium version of Mantano. I always keep it turned off 'cause I don't want to see it, bit still... when I turn it on, there it sits (ex. 200/319). On every "page." What am I missing?

What you're missing is that in Mantano it is only the page number and it is an overlay which can hide some of the text. With other readers it's a app-specific header or footer that can contain different information like percentage read, battery level, book title, etc. This kind of thing has been pretty standard so it's surprising Mantano doesn't do it in a more elegant way.

DiapDealer · 07-15-2013, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanos

What you're missing is that in Mantano it is only the page number and it is an overlay which can hide some of the text. With other readers it's a app-specific header or footer that can contain different information like percentage read, battery level, book title, etc. This kind of thing has been pretty standard so it's surprising Mantano doesn't do it in a more elegant way.

I've never had the page number indicator hide text. Same with the bookmark indicator. But then, most of my ebooks use sensible @page margin-top/margin-bottom attributes. Mantano itself has vertical margin settings to keep that sort of overlap from happening as well. *shrugs*

PatNY · 07-15-2013, 01:18 PM

seanos, there are two page indicators with Mantano. One pops up on the bottom with the rest of the menu options including settings when you tap the center of the screen. That one can hide text.

But there is also a static page indicator that you can enable in the settings. It is always visible and does not hide text. I would be surprised if this one is not on the free version of Mantano.

I agree that a static battery indicator and the time would be very helpful. I have already contacted the developers of Mantano to ask for that. Maybe if more people request these enhancements too, they will implement them!

Here is their website where they can be contacted:

http://www.mantano.com/

--Pat

booklover6 · 07-16-2013, 08:33 AM

I bought Mantano Essentials from google play for $2.99 specifically so I could add my own fonts. It was easy to do and I am very happy with it!

steven522 · 07-16-2013, 09:14 AM

I started with CoolReader, but each update was causing more and more issues for me as the user interface went off-kilter and the display of the actual book was left behind.

FBReader was my next go-to app for android until I started getting into books that had a lot of CSS formatting to make tables, pictures, etc., appear neatly on the screen. FBReader chokes on these more often than not.

After installing, testing, and uninstalling reader app after reader app I finally wound up with Aldiko. Aldiko seems to good a good job on most epub formatting but I have my books stored on an SD card in a folder layout that I am comfortable with and I loose this when "importing" the books to Aldiko.

Once Google Books allowed personal content I gave it a try. Like you, I found that the Google Books gives an almost perfect rendition of any book I have thrown at it. It is however, the most cumbersome to work with. The best approach I have found is to dump my books to Google Drive and use the import from Drive to get the book I want to read at the time.

If Google Books would open an epub directly from the device, you would have the perfect reader. If FBReader would handle the CSS formatting correctly, it would be the next choice.

So for simple, not-to-fancy books, I use FBReader. For books with heavy formatting, I take some time to get them routed through Google Drive/Books for a better display.

Dhevi · 07-20-2013, 04:08 PM

Though I like the way Mantano premium displays my epubs, it seems to consistently crash whenever I attempt to edit the "Info+" to make adjustments to the metadata, such as adding tags, or ratings. And though most of the metadata carries over from Calibre, the ratings do not. It's rather quite tedious at the moment to have to edit in Calibre, only to resend the epub to Mantano.

Firedb · 07-22-2013, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dhevi

Though I like the way Mantano premium displays my epubs, it seems to consistently crash whenever I attempt to edit the "Info+" to make adjustments to the metadata, such as adding tags, or ratings. And though most of the metadata carries over from Calibre, the ratings do not. It's rather quite tedious at the moment to have to edit in Calibre, only to resend the epub to Mantano.

This also happens to be. I recently changed to Note 8 from Nexus 7, and thought it might have been a bug with the Note.
I mostly use FBReader now. I agree with some posters though. FB does not format books as well as Mantano, and the "More Styles" option does not appear to work properly

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07-15-2013, 01:18 PM	#18
PatNY Zennist Posts: 1,022 Karma: 47809468 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: iPod Touch, Sony PRS-350, Nook HD+ & HD	seanos, there are two page indicators with Mantano. One pops up on the bottom with the rest of the menu options including settings when you tap the center of the screen. That one can hide text. But there is also a static page indicator that you can enable in the settings. It is always visible and does not hide text. I would be surprised if this one is not on the free version of Mantano. I agree that a static battery indicator and the time would be very helpful. I have already contacted the developers of Mantano to ask for that. Maybe if more people request these enhancements too, they will implement them! Here is their website where they can be contacted: http://www.mantano.com/ --Pat

07-16-2013, 08:33 AM	#19
booklover6 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,533 Karma: 14008730 Join Date: May 2008 Location: PA (USA) Device: Kobo Clara, 2E, Libre, PW4, PW5, 2022 Kindle	I bought Mantano Essentials from google play for $2.99 specifically so I could add my own fonts. It was easy to do and I am very happy with it!

07-16-2013, 09:14 AM	#20
steven522 binomial: homo legentem Posts: 1,061 Karma: 25222222 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Alabama, USA Device: iriver Story HD; Archos 80 G9	I started with CoolReader, but each update was causing more and more issues for me as the user interface went off-kilter and the display of the actual book was left behind. FBReader was my next go-to app for android until I started getting into books that had a lot of CSS formatting to make tables, pictures, etc., appear neatly on the screen. FBReader chokes on these more often than not. After installing, testing, and uninstalling reader app after reader app I finally wound up with Aldiko. Aldiko seems to good a good job on most epub formatting but I have my books stored on an SD card in a folder layout that I am comfortable with and I loose this when "importing" the books to Aldiko. Once Google Books allowed personal content I gave it a try. Like you, I found that the Google Books gives an almost perfect rendition of any book I have thrown at it. It is however, the most cumbersome to work with. The best approach I have found is to dump my books to Google Drive and use the import from Drive to get the book I want to read at the time. If Google Books would open an epub directly from the device, you would have the perfect reader. If FBReader would handle the CSS formatting correctly, it would be the next choice. So for simple, not-to-fancy books, I use FBReader. For books with heavy formatting, I take some time to get them routed through Google Drive/Books for a better display.

07-20-2013, 04:08 PM	#21
Dhevi Zealot Posts: 144 Karma: 2211224 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Ohio Device: Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy S3, Nexus 7.2	Though I like the way Mantano premium displays my epubs, it seems to consistently crash whenever I attempt to edit the "Info+" to make adjustments to the metadata, such as adding tags, or ratings. And though most of the metadata carries over from Calibre, the ratings do not. It's rather quite tedious at the moment to have to edit in Calibre, only to resend the epub to Mantano.

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